Hail to the Chef. [article id="1621637"]Raekwon will debut in SoundScan's top five[/article] with his classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II. Rae popped up at the VMA Radio Forum over the weekend, and we had the opportunity to ask him about a longstanding rumor that at one time, Diddy wanted to sign him and Ghostface Killah to Bad Boy.

"I heard that too," Rae said. "We did a show at the Palladium [years back], and Puff had security with him that was from Staten Island. When we got back to Staten Island, we bump into the kid, and he told us while he was up there performing, Puff said, 'I need them two. What I gotta do?' He was excited about working with us [and] signing us too. I don't know why it ain't happen, either. You never know. Maybe he may want to do that now. I'm independent, baby. So let's get it right. Let's cut them checks, Puff. We know what time it is!"

The Wu-Tang/ Diddy/ Bad Boy connection has spawned a lot of hits from "The What" to the remixes of "All I Need" and "Special Delivery." Diddy and Rae did hook up last week for the [article id="1621025"]album-release party for Cuban Linx II.[/article] Diddy hosted the party at Manhattan's Santos Party House.

"One day I'm in the car, I'm just driving," he said. "I get a call from Puff out of the blue. He's like, 'Yo, I wanna congratulate you on your album.' That's what's up. One thing led to another, and I told him about the party. He said, 'If I'm in town, I'm coming through.' I said, 'Would you like to come through and host?' Because you know what kinda dude Diddy is. He's like our Sammy Davis Jr. He's done so much on all levels, [so] I just asked. What's wrong with asking? He was like, 'I'mma check my schedule, and if it permits for it to happen, I'm there for you.' Next thing you know, he called me 48 hours later: 'It's on. I'm with you.' "

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

Wonder if he works for Time Warner or Direct TV? Fabolous pulled a Jim Carrey and plays the Cable Guy on Ghostface Killah's new record "The Guest House" from Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City.

On the song, Ghost is frantic when his girl turns up missing. He calls around and then goes searching. He goes to the guest house on his estate and finds the lady with Fabolous as he's laying cable. Verbal jousting ensues between Fab's and Ghostface's characters.

"I was the cable guy in there," Fab explained. "I happened to come up on Ghostface's girl. Ghost reached out to me and said, 'I got this dope joint I wanna get you on.' It's kinda like, you know, how R. Kelly used to have those story joints with Mr. Biggs. I was like 'OK, cool.' As long as the joint sounds dope, which I can only expect from Ghost, and it came through. It was good."